The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will not issue Senator Hope Uzodinma Certificate of Return as duly elected governor of Imo State until it is served with the enrolled order of the Supreme Court Judgment.
This was revealed by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC National Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, in a statement on Wednesday.
He said, “the Commission is yet to be served with the enrolled order of the Supreme Court Judgment, therefore we cannot issue the Certificate of Return to the APC candidate yet. However, once the Commission receives the enrolled order, the CoR will be issued”.
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He, however, observed that the non-issuance of the CoR cannot derail the swearing-in ceremony of the Imo governor.
He stated also that Commission does not act based on newspaper publications, as “we’ve always obeyed Court judgments but until we are served with the Certified True Copy of the judgment we cannot release the CoR. ”
The Supreme Court, Tuesday, sacked Emeka Ihedioha as Imo governor and declared Uzodinma as the authentic winner of the April 2019 governorship election.